Word spread, with the help of celebrity tweets from Crowdrise creator Edward Norton, users Seth Rogen and Alicia Keys. Donations came from across the country and overseas — Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and India, he said, more than 1,300 donations. Kraft said one lottery winner in New Jersey gave more than $10,000.

As of Monday, the site had raised nearly $90,000.

Kraft said the money will be given to the Sandy Hook Parent Teacher Assn. each month.

“My hope is that it goes to support the community in rebuilding,” he said, paying for counseling and funeral expenses.

Other groups are also attempting to raise money to help the shooting victims, including the Sandy Hook School Support Fund created through the United Way of Western Connecticut. Kraft said he has been in touch with those and other fundraisers. They hope to work with people in Newtown to make sure the money goes where it's most needed, he said.

Kraft had no immediate plans to travel to Newtown to meet any of the victims who will benefit from the fund. He’s content to manage it from afar, he said, adding that, in the end, “I hope that we can work to make the situation a little less terrible.”